THE Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) conducted a three-day onsite training-workshop on bridging research into policy on Jan. 21 to 23, 2025.
According to SEARCA director Glenn Gregorio, this was part of SEARCA's commitment to nurturing leaders and innovators in agriculture, rural developmen, and related fields.
Organized by SEARCA's Education and Collective Learning Department, the course was designed exclusively for the center's scholars.
Gregorio said the course aimed to equip participants with the skills and knowledge to effectively translate research findings into actionable policies, promoting evidence-informed policymaking and practice.
Sixteen SEARCA scholars across different scholarship programs joined the training workshop.
They were from Kasetsart University in Thailand, University of the Philippines Los Baños, Nagoya University in Japan, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Universiti Sains Malaysia, IPB University in Indonesia and Benguet State University.
Gregorio said he hoped the workshop addressed critical challenges in the policy-making process, including the timeliness, relevance, and quality of scientific information, biases, and competing agendas in the policy arena.
He said participants will explore the research process, policy cycle, and the research-policy interface through lectures, workshops, and guided exercises.
"They also developed skills in crafting policy briefs, organizing policy dialogues, and building collaborative frameworks to bridge the gap between research and policy," Gregorio added.
He said the scholars enhanced their capacity for good governance and effective stakeholder engagement as future leaders and drivers of transformation under SEARCA's Five-Year Plan of Accelerating Transformation through Agricultural Innovation, also called ATTAIN.
The training workshop culminated with participants creating Re-entry Action Plans to apply their learning in real-world contexts, ensuring long-term impact as part of the SEARCA's Graduate on Time program.
The program included academic and extracurricular learning events aimed at helping scholars complete their requirements on time.